NFL Wants to End lockout

NFL Wants to End lockout

After the negotiations broke down and the old collective bargaining agreement expired, the NFL locked out players in March, and with time running short to keep the NFL's preseason completely intact, owners and player representatives met last Thursday at a Manhattan law firm to try and overcome the remaining obstacles to end the lockout.

Among those present in the said talks were NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and eight of the 10 members of the owners' labor committee, which included Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. John Mara of the New York  Giants, Green Bay Packers CEO Mark Murphy, San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos, NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith and a half-dozen current or former players, including Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday and Baltimore Ravens defensive back Domonique Foxworth.

The Hall of Fame game is set to start August 7 and training camps need to start at the end of the week, however, camps refuse to open until the new CBA is in place. U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, is the one overseeing the said talks and even if there is an agreement made between parties, there are still a lot of things which needs to be addressed in full upon the re-establishment of the NFLPA as a union which includes the league's drug-testing program, health insurance, retired player's pensions and other benefits, plus  the discussion on a rookie salary system and free agency guidelines. This season's NFL revenue may decrease due to the lockout and officials are trying to resolve the issue as soon as possible and the talks are gaining proper  momentum.

"We share the view that now is the time to reach an agreement so we can all get back to football and a full 2011 season. We are working hard with the players' negotiating team every day to complete an agreement as soon as possible.” according to an official statement from the NFL.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Friday July 15 2011, 1:39 PM EST. Ref: Yahoo Sports. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0